Vigneti Vecchio, 'Crasa Contrada' Nerello Mascalese, Etna Rosso, Sicily, Italy, 2019

Overview of the Wine
Carmelo Vecchio and his wife, Rosa La Guzza, did not come from afar to make wine on Etna: they are true locals, raised in the heart of the vineyards. Carmelo began working at the nearby Passopisciaro winery at a young age, and after fifteen years of hands-on experience, the time came to strike out on his own. From barely one hectare of vines up to 130 years old inherited from Rosa’s family, the couple took matters into their own hands: sustainable farming by hand, with the goal of achieving an elegant balance in the grapes; micro-vinifications in the tiny cellar beneath their home, with respect for tradition and terroir; and aging the wines in used barrels before bottling without fining or filtration.

Armed with excellent raw materials along with Carmelo's years of experience and an appreciation for ancient local practices such as skin maceration for whites and blending white grapes into the reds, Rosa and Carmelo succeeded in crafting delicate, pure, and highly refined wines from their inaugural 2016 harvest. While Etna still searches for its identity, Vigneti Vecchio demonstrates that this towering volcano rising from the Mediterranean can in fact produce wines as beautifully nuanced as anywhere else in Italy.

Natural and Organic.

Grape / Blend
Nerello Mascalese

Origin
Mount Etna, Sicily, Italy

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
You’ll find whiffs of both Burgundy and Barolo in this single-vineyard bottling from vines planted in 1930, but it is unmistakably Etna: smoky and suave, with radiant cherry fruit and gripping tannins fine as ash.

92 Points - Jancis Robinson

Product size: 750ml